1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a feeding apparatus which is satisfactorily used in the production of rubber-coated steel cords usable as a carcass cord and a breaker cord of tires, for example.
2. Background Art
In facilities for producing a carcass cord and a breaker cord of tires, such a feeding apparatus provided with a first feeding section, a cutting section and a second feeding section is usually driven. The first feeding section feeds a long-formed rubber-coated steel cord in the longitudinal direction. The cutting section cuts the rubber-coated steel cord delivered from the first feeding section at a cutting angle giving a predetermined angle with respect to the longitudinal direction of the rubber-coated steel cord, thereby forming a cord piece in a parallelogram shape. The second feeding section feeds the cord piece in a direction intersecting obliquely with the feeding direction of the first feeding section at the same angle as the cutting angle. In other words, in the feeding apparatus, the rubber-coated steel cord is delivered on the second feeding section by the first feeding section, the delivered rubber-coated steel cord is cut by the cutting section into cord pieces, and the cord pieces placed on the second feeding section are carried out. Then, end portions of a plurality of cord pieces carried out from the second feeding section different in the cut surface cut by the cutting section are abutted against the other end portions thereof, which are coupled together to form a carcass cord or a breaker cord.
For example, the Japanese Patent No. 2923066 has disclosed a cutting/coupling apparatus for rubber-coated steel cords in which cord pieces are continuously delivered by the above feeding apparatus and the trailing end of a preceding cord piece is coupled with the leading end of a subsequent cord piece by the coupling apparatus. The cutting/coupling apparatus includes a carrying-in conveyor for carrying in cord pieces, a carrying-out conveyor for carrying out the cord pieces and a coupling unit for coupling the cord pieces.
As shown in FIG. 4A, in the feeding apparatus disclosed in the above Patent Document, a rubber-coated steel sheet 102 is delivered from a first feeding section (not illustrated) to a second feeding section 100 which is in a resting state, thereby the leading end of the rubber coated steel cord 102 is more likely to be caught by the second feeding section 100 due to frictional resistance or the like generated between the rubber coated steel sheet 102 and the second feeding section 100, as delivered in an increased quantity. As a result, a problem is posed that the delivered rubber coated steel sheet 102 buckles as shown in FIG. 4B or the leading end of the rubber coated steel sheet 102 gets snagged, as shown in FIG. 4C. In particular, there is a problem that the leading end of the rubber coated steel sheet 102 is made sharper as the cutting angle is made smaller, by which the leading end of the rubber-coated steel sheet 102 is more likely to be caught by the second feeding section.
The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, an object of which is to provide a feeding apparatus capable of preventing accidental delivery of long-formed sheets and carrying out the long-formed sheets satisfactorily.